Spectral Properties of Near-Earth Asteroids: Evidence for Sources of Ordinary Chondrite Meteorites

Science. 1996 Aug 16;273(5277):946-8. doi: 10.1126/science.273.5277.946.

Abstract

Although ordinary chondrite (OC) meteorites dominate observed falls, the identification of near-Earth and main-belt asteroid sources has remained elusive. Telescopic measurements of 35 near-Earth asteroids ( approximately3 kilometers in diameter) revealed six that have visible wavelength spectra similar to laboratory spectra of OC meteorites. Near-Earth asteroids were found to have spectral properties that span the range between the previously separated domains of OC meteorites and the most common (S class) asteroids, suggesting a link. This range of spectral properties could arise through a diversity of mineralogies and regolith particle sizes, as well as through a time-dependent surface weathering process.